Foundation holes, garage pads, additions, utility trenches, final grade — the dirt work that turns a New Hampton lot into a build site, done on schedule so your contractor isn’t waiting.
Most New Hampton projects start with a wooded parcel and a vision, and the ground varies more than newcomers expect. Down near the Pemigewasset, river-terrace sands dig easily and drain beautifully — some of the friendliest excavation soil in the region. Climb into the hills east of the highway and it turns to hardpan till with boulders, slower digging and slower draining, where a perimeter drain around the foundation stops being optional. Full-lot development is our standard package here: cut the drive first so everything else has access, clear and grub the house site, dig the foundation, trench utilities, and rough-grade for drainage in one coordinated sequence — cheaper than piecemeal mobilizations. The I-93 interchange keeps trucking costs down, a real advantage when a job needs serious gravel. Mud season posts some town roads in March and April, so big material moves happen on firm ground, summer through freeze-up.
Developing a wooded New Hampton lot? Build the driveway to its full base depth first, before the foundation dig — not as a finishing touch. Every truck your project needs will use it for a year, and a properly built drive used as a construction road just needs a top course at the end.
Every build starts and ends with dirt. We dig foundations and frost walls to spec (four-foot frost depth here isn’t a suggestion), cut and fill to bring a sloped lot to grade, trench for water, power, and septic lines, and come back at the end for the finish grade that sheds water away from the new foundation. On ledge-prone ground we dig test pits first — finding granite with a quote instead of a change order.
We coordinate directly with your builder, and we show up when the schedule says — because everyone downstream of the dirt is waiting on it.
Machine-and-operator excavation runs $110–$200/hour in the region; typical foundation digs land $3,000–$10,000 depending on size, soils, and ledge. Test pits and a site walk get you a flat number before we start.
Most Lakes Region foundation excavations run $3,000 to $10,000 — driven by size, soil, water table, and whether we hit ledge. Test pits before quoting mean the number you get is the number you pay.
It's common here. We dig test pits at the corners before quoting, so ledge shows up in the plan — hammering or blasting gets priced up front, not as a mid-job surprise. If ledge makes one corner of the lot expensive, sometimes shifting the footprint twenty feet saves five figures.
Prime season is May through November. Deep frost slows winter digging, and March–April mud season closes many posted town roads to loaded trucks. We schedule around both — and fall is the smart time to book a spring dig.
Free site walks, test pits before quotes, flat pricing, and a crew that knows Lakes Region ground.
Tell us where the property is and what you’re trying to do. We’ll walk the site, talk it through, and give you a straight, flat quote.
